At least they coulda used duct tape!

[Trailrider #896]

My younger daughter took her Lexus SUV in to have a headlamp replaced, asked the dealership to do a 130,000 mile check as well.  She picked up the car and drove it home.  As she tried to turn into her driveway, she heard an awful screeching noise.  She back up slightly and tried going forward only to hear the noise again.  Getting out of the vehicle, she looked underneath.  There is a plate of some sort that is (should be) bolted onto the bottom of the engine.  To her surprise and horror, she found the alleged "mechanic" had used zipties to hold the plate!   The noise came when she turned the wheel and the tire rubbed against the ziptie.  Fortunately, the tire wasn't damaged.  She took pictures and drove back to the dealership, and raised Ned!  The manager and everyone in the place came over to see what the commotion was about.  Apparently there was something about the plate that wasn't right, but instead of telling her that the car would have to wait for a new plate, they let her drive away unaware until she turned into her drive!  Of course, since she had photos and her husband was there, they decided to give her a loaner car until the vehicle is properly repaired.  I told her when they say it is ready, tell them DO NOT bring it out, but put it up on the rack so she, my son-in-law and probably my wife and I can verify the work is done right!  It also turned out the zipties were of very poor quality.  Suppose she had been on the highway and the ziptie caused a blowout, or the plate came loose!  My daughter said the manager told the mechanic, "We need to talk about this."  If it was me, the conversation would have been limited to two words.... "You're FIRED!"   

[Pat Riot]

That plate could have come loose and hit someone or the plate coming loose could have distracted her and she could’ve  hit someone. Flippin’ morons. 

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

If he'd trimmed the ends off the ties, the issue may not have come up ......... until something catastrophic happened ....... moron.

[Michigan Slim]

In the shops I've worked in he would have been walked to his car in front of the customer.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

Back when Sears was in business, my Dad took his car in for new tires.  Halfway home he had a wobbly sensation in the front end.  He pulled over to look, and found that half his lug nuts were missing, and the threads on the lugs were all buggered.  First time I heard him ream a tradesman.

 

LL

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 hours ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

Back when Sears was in business, my Dad took his car in for new tires.  Halfway home he had a wobbly sensation in the front end.  He pulled over to look, and found that half his lug nuts were missing, and the threads on the lugs were all buggered.  First time I heard him ream a tradesman.

 

LL

And might have had an influence on your getting into liability law?

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

I have my very own torque wrench.

It gives me more peace of mind than that kids blanket in Peanuts.

New owner manuals really bury the wheel torques but they are there.

I used to do my own work.

Now I check what others do and let them know too.

Best

CR

 

[Perro Del Diablo]

I’ve seen what a metal plate in middle of road can do to cars. Glad I was on other side of lanes because I don’t want to se what it would have done to my bike.

[Cypress Sun]

I'm not so sure that a plastic zip tie would cut a tire if the zip tie was intact...a cut zip tie, they are like a razor knife. Regardless, not something I would expect out of a Lexus dealership or any other mechanic for that matter. The mechanic should have been fired on the spot.

 

I've had so called mechanics screw up what should have been simple jobs more than once;

 

Friend of mine had a '67 Chevelle with an LT350 motor in it. Had the oil changed.  The "mechanic" finger tightened the drain plug and never put a wrench on it evidently. We were coming back to Clearwater on a causeway at way past dark-thirty doing about 90 when the drive said "What the $&%#" while looking in the rearview. I looked back at a plume of smoke and the the motor seized up. Entire episode took maybe 10 seconds. The business put another motor in but it wasn't an LT350. From what I understand, the finger tight drain plug is a common problem.

 

My ex mother in law took her AMC Concorde to Sears Automotive because it was leaking oil (duh). The lead mechanic told her that she needed a new motor and there was nothing they could do otherwise. Quoted her an outrageous price. She came over to our house crying. I took a look at it, the oil sending unit had developed a hole in it that squirted a very small stream of oil out of it. I got another one and replaced it in under an hour (travel to get part) and under $10.00. That car was still running 10 years later when she passed and her son came and drove it to California.

 

When I was a kid, we had a carpool for school. One afternoon, a girls brother came and picked us up in a Olds Starfire. As we were driving down a busy two lane road, the right front tire decided that it didn't want to be on the car any longer. He controlled it as best as he could and we ended up safely in some ones yard on the right side of the road. If it had been the left tire, it probably would have resulted in a head on collision with a combined speed of 100mph mol. He had had the tire plugged just that morning.

 

Had plenty of other instances but those are the ones that stick out in my mind.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Back about 1975 I was at the Sears store in Tanforan Shopping Center in San Bruno, California.  I was in the automotive section, buying a new battery, when I heard a commotion.  I looked up, and there was a somewhat peeved (as in downright pi$$ed off) customer screaming at the service manager.  Said customer - wearing full casts on one leg and one arm as well as a neck brace, standing with the aid of a cane and his wife - was a mite displeased that when he had purchased a set of tires a couple of days before the mechanic had not tightened the lugs.  His condition was a result of that oversight.

 

Jump ahead to 2019:

 

Michigan Court Rules that TIGHTENING LUG NUTS NOT PART OF TIRE ROTATION. 

 

Quote

A Michigan appeals court has determined that a tire rotation does not, in fact, include tightening the lug nuts. In October 2013, a couple took their car home from a dealership in Grand Rapids after having the tires rotated. Two blocks from the dealership, the left front wheel came off, causing the car to skid into a curb. Turns out, the mechanic did not tighten the lug nuts.

 

There were some injuries, and the couple sued. But in a severely twisted reading of the law that defies common sense, the judges ruled that a tire rotation does not include tightening the lug nuts. It only involves “removing the tires and replacing them on different axles or sides of the vehicle.”

 

[Blackwater 53393]

This once again confirms what I’ve said many times about dealership repair facilities!!

 

Find a reputable INDEPENDENT repair facility!!  The real mechanic/technicians leave the dealerships as soon they get sufficient training to get jobs with real repair shops!!

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

From the immortal wisdom of Red Green: